How do dance studios pay instructors?

Dance studios usually pay instructors either a flat rate per class taught or a percentage of what the class earned. Floorwork supports both: you set a per-class pay rule once, and payroll calculates what each instructor is owed from the classes that actually ran, using real attendance for percentage splits.

Does Floorwork support percentage splits?

Yes. You can pay an instructor a percentage of what a class earned, and Floorwork calculates the split from door check-in attendance and what students paid. Splits are set per class, so an instructor can be on a percentage for one class and a flat rate for another.

Does Floorwork send the money to instructors?

Not yet. Today Floorwork calculates what each instructor is owed, produces a payout report, and lets you mark instructors paid once you have paid them through your existing method or payroll provider. Direct payouts and tax-form handling are on the roadmap, not shipped.

How does payroll know what each instructor is owed?

Payroll reads from the same platform that runs your schedule and bookings. The schedule knows who taught each class, and door check-in knows who attended and what they paid. Floorwork combines that with your per-class pay rules, so you never copy numbers between a scheduler, a booking tool, and a spreadsheet.

How much does instructor payroll cost with Floorwork?

Instructor payroll is included in the platform at $199 per month per studio, with no separate payroll add-on fee. Additional studio locations are $49 per month each.

Instructor payroll

Instructor payroll for dance studios.

Instructor payroll for dance studios is the work of calculating what each teacher is owed from the classes they taught. Floorwork builds it into the platform that already runs your schedule and bookings, for $199 per month per studio.

The instructor pay problem

Most dance studios pay teachers in one of two ways: a flat rate per class taught, or a percentage of what the class brought in. Both are simple to describe and tedious to calculate. By payday the numbers live in a scheduler, a booking tool, and a spreadsheet that nobody trusts, and someone reconciles them by hand every cycle.

A flat per-class rate sounds easy until a class is canceled, covered by a substitute, or split between two instructors. A percentage split is harder still: it depends on how many students actually attended and what they paid, which means payroll cannot be finished until attendance is in. Pull that data from a separate booking system by hand and errors creep in, teachers notice, and trust erodes.

The deeper issue is that the pay data and the class data live apart. The schedule knows who taught what. Bookings and check-in know who showed up and what they paid. Payroll needs both, so studios end up copying numbers between tools at the end of every period. That copying is where the hours go and where the mistakes happen.

How payroll and payout splits work on Floorwork

Floorwork keeps the schedule, bookings, attendance, and pay rules in one platform, so payroll reads from the same data that already ran the class. You do not export a report from one tool and paste it into another.

You set a pay rule on each class once: either a flat amount for teaching the session or a percentage of what the class earned. Because the studio is merchant of record through Stripe Connect and check-in records who attended, Floorwork knows what every class brought in and who taught it. Payroll for a period is the sum of those rules across the classes that ran, not a spreadsheet you rebuild by hand.

When it is time to pay, you generate a payout report for the pay period, review what each instructor is owed line by line, and mark instructors paid once the money has gone out. The report shows the classes behind each total, so a teacher can see exactly how their number was reached. There is no copying between a scheduler, a booking tool, and a spreadsheet, because all three are the same system.

Per-class rates and percentage splits

Flat per-class rate: Pay an instructor a fixed amount for teaching a session, regardless of how many students attend. Simple and predictable for regular weekly classes.
Percentage split: Pay an instructor a share of what the class earned, calculated from real attendance and what students paid, so the split tracks how full the class was.
Per-class rules: Set the rule on each class rather than on the studio, so a teacher can be on a flat rate for one class and a split for another.
Tied to attendance: Splits read from door check-in, so the amount owed reflects who actually showed up, not who was scheduled or pre-registered.

What is included

Per-class pay rules: Set a flat rate or a percentage split on each class, configured once and reused every week.
Attendance-based totals: Percentage splits calculate from real check-in data and what students paid, not from the roster.
Payout reports: Generate a per-period report that shows what each instructor is owed and the classes behind each total.
Paid-status tracking: Mark instructors paid once money has gone out, so each period has a clear, auditable record.
One source of truth: Schedule, bookings, attendance, and pay rules live together, so nothing is copied between tools.
Flat pricing: Payroll is part of the platform at $199 per month per studio. Additional locations are $49 per month each.

Honest about shipped versus roadmap

What is live today is the calculation and reporting layer: per-class pay rules, attendance-driven splits, payout reports, and paid-status tracking. That is the part that removes the spreadsheet, because it turns a month of manual reconciliation into a report you review and approve.

What Floorwork does not do today is move the money. You run the payout report, then pay instructors through your existing method, payroll provider, or bank transfer, and mark them paid. Direct ACH payouts to instructors and tax-form handling are on the roadmap rather than shipped, and this page will not pretend otherwise.

Keep reading

Instructor payroll FAQ

How do dance studios pay instructors?: Dance studios usually pay instructors either a flat rate per class taught or a percentage of what the class earned. Floorwork supports both: you set a per-class pay rule once, and payroll calculates what each instructor is owed from the classes that actually ran, using real attendance for percentage splits.
Does Floorwork support percentage splits?: Yes. You can pay an instructor a percentage of what a class earned, and Floorwork calculates the split from door check-in attendance and what students paid. Splits are set per class, so an instructor can be on a percentage for one class and a flat rate for another.
Does Floorwork send the money to instructors?: Not yet. Today Floorwork calculates what each instructor is owed, produces a payout report, and lets you mark instructors paid once you have paid them through your existing method or payroll provider. Direct payouts and tax-form handling are on the roadmap, not shipped.
How does payroll know what each instructor is owed?: Payroll reads from the same platform that runs your schedule and bookings. The schedule knows who taught each class, and door check-in knows who attended and what they paid. Floorwork combines that with your per-class pay rules, so you never copy numbers between a scheduler, a booking tool, and a spreadsheet.
How much does instructor payroll cost with Floorwork?: Instructor payroll is included in the platform at $199 per month per studio, with no separate payroll add-on fee. Additional studio locations are $49 per month each.